topic Re: Baby Boomers Question? in Among Friends

Baby Boomers Question?

Jackhound Mom — Fri, 07 May 2021 16:52:42 GMT

Are children taught how to spell using phonics/fonics. We were, and it didn't always work.

Sounding out the word is Not always how it is spelled.

Example Wednesday

Wed Nes Day

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

skatting44 — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:01:38 GMT

When , my daughter was in grade school back in the late 1980's , her teachers said they were not concerned as they were teaching a " new way to learn to spell ".. Well, they way they taught her never worked out. She's almost 40 and relies on spell check for alot of simple words . The old fashion way of learning to spell by repetition , memorization and looking up words in a dictionary are helpful, along with addition of spell check.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Suzeecat — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:02:17 GMT

What is your question?

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

On It — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:05:25 GMT

I agree. We were taught to read and spell by a sight word method. Patterns in words, long vowel patterns, etc. were part of the spelling curriculum. Word shapes were emphasized by boxes that were drawn around the letters to show shapes. I am a speed reader and a heck of a "Wheel of Fortune" player because of this method.

I quit teaching 20+ years ago and phonics was the method being used for both reading and spelling. Some words were taught as sight words since phonetically spelling them was impossible. In my opinion phonics slows down the reading process, but I have no research to support my theory.

@Jackhound Mom wrote:
Are children taught how to spell using phonics/fonics. We were, and it didn't always work.

Sounding out the word is Not always how it is spelled.

Example Wednesday
Wed Nes Day

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

CelticCrafter — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:18:10 GMT

@skatting44 wrote:
When , my daughter was in grade school back in the late 1980's , her teachers said they were not concerned as they were teaching a " new way to learn to spell ".. Well, they way they taught her never worked out. She's almost 40 and relies on spell check for alot of simple words . The old fashion way of learning to spell by repetition , memorization and looking up words in a dictionary are helpful, along with addition of spell check.

I know for a time it was okay to spell it the way it sounded. I don't know if they have gone back to the old fashioned way.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Zhills — Fri, 07 May 2021 18:05:48 GMT

My 3 Boomers were taught to write by phonics for the sake of writing stories and creativity, but they also had Spelling and English where they were taught how to use and write words correctly!

Learning to read by phonics is one way to read.

Writing in phonics is not using English correctly and they were also taught that fact!

English is a required subject every year of school.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Love my grandkids — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:23:59 GMT

@Jackhound Mom I'm 73 and from what I can tell my whole generation was taught phonics. So was my 52 year old son. So were my grandchildren.

I can't speak for the whole generation but anyone I've ever known who is a boomer was taught phonics as this topic comes up often.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

PA Mom-mom — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:36:39 GMT

@Jackhound Mom I had phonics, and my children had phonics in their early years. I taught all of my children to read using McGuffey's Readers. Later, they had spelling in conjunction with their various English and Lit classes. In my opinion, the best way to learn to spell is to READ.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Carmie — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:47:24 GMT

I am a boomer. I was taught phonics for reading. I think that is best. I taught all three of my children to read using phonics and they all read well before they went to kindergarten.

Spelling was taught by studying a word list.. 10 words a week. I had spelling homework every night. I had to write the word 10 times and use the word in two sentences...every single night. Spelling tests were given every Friday. I had spelling classes from grade one to eight.

We also were taught spelling rules...like i before e, except after c.

If I turned in any paper with a word misspelled, it was given back to me to correct, even for other subjects like history or science. If I misspelled a word on a test on any subject, points were deducted.

I went to Catholic school with four classrooms and four teachers for eight grades. One teacher taught 1st and 2nd grade in the same class room..one teacher for 3rd and 4th, and 5th and 6th and 7th and 8th. There were about 30 students in the class rooms.

The teacher also taught art, music and gym.

Our textbooks were old and falling apart, but we learned.

When I was working, I was often asked if my major was journalism or English. When I said I had no degree, I was asked where I learned my skills...answer, grammar school.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

chickenbutt — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:59:51 GMT

This is kind of sad - I don't remember at all.

I was always good at spelling, however, so I remember that part. I used to win spelling bees (just little school stuff, nothing national). I'm still a good speller but my typing is starting to go backwards (which I hate, as I was always good and fast at typing).

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Foxxee — Fri, 07 May 2021 18:42:06 GMT

Phonics. It worked great for me. I was an early fast reader and the school spelling bee champion.

In my school, it was some of the boys who were slower to catch on.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Love my grandkids — Fri, 07 May 2021 19:09:41 GMT

@chickenbutt I was and still am a fantastic speller. From 6th to 8th grade I won every spelling bee.

I was neurotically shy and got embarrassed at always winning so for the last one in 8th grade I made a mistake early in the bee. The teacher was really surprised and I know she knew that I "threw" the spelling bee.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Brisky — Fri, 07 May 2021 21:08:26 GMT

Phonics for me. I love to read also. I was taught by nuns, grade 1 - 6. Then I went to public schools and I was thrilled. I was always afraid of the nuns!

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Jackhound Mom — Fri, 07 May 2021 21:19:27 GMT

Thank you for the great answers. I'm 67 and I too learned to spell/read by phonics. When I used to read I could spell but now that I have eye problems and no longer read as much my spelling has suffered. This goes along with what most of you answered.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

bikerbabe — Fri, 07 May 2021 21:22:42 GMT

I have no memory of how I was taught to spell. I do know I was an obsessive reader of books from a very young age, before kindergarten. Personally I think it matters less how you were taught spell but rather whether you read - a lot - as a child.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Q4u — Fri, 07 May 2021 21:23:13 GMT

Phonics. My oldest son has dyslexia and if it weren't for phonics, he wouldn't have made it. But he did make it and he still spells mostly phonetically to this day. Interestingly later on he was asked to take 2 IQ tests and did so well that the school sent his results to Mensa, who wrote to him asking him to join. He didn't but still has the letter....

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Love my grandkids — Fri, 07 May 2021 21:36:11 GMT

@bikerbabe About the one good thing my "father" (sperm donor) did for me was to teach me to read a bit from the newspaper when I was 5. We always did have books and newspapers in our home. I carried that one when I married and had a family.

I got my first library card at 5 but of course my mom had to sign for me. I was thrilled. I've always been a voracious reader. Can't imagine life without it!

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

SeaMaiden — Fri, 07 May 2021 22:07:37 GMT

I have some kind of spelling dyslexia ...I am just a terrible speller...spellcheck is my friend as is google. I also have a terrible sense of direction.... I always wondered if theses two issues are related somehow in how my brain works? I am an excellent reader.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Still Raining — Fri, 07 May 2021 22:11:28 GMT

Did elementary school in the 50s and no recollection of phonics at all.

Re: Baby Boomers Question?

Buffalogal47 — Fri, 07 May 2021 22:51:20 GMT

@Still Raining i also did grammar school in the 50s and yes we did do phonics, but it was not what passes for phonics now. Don't you remember learnig about dipthongs and vowel sounds and different consonant combinations? Phonics then was taught in the pramary grades 1 to 3 as a prelude to learning grammar. It was much harder than the garbage the kids are being taught now. That's why people who went to school from the 1970s to the present make so many spelling and grammatical errors. The teachers in the 70s were too lazy to teach proper phonics and grammar. I remember arguing with my children's teachers because they weren't learning how the English language works and I ended up teaching them phonics and grammar myself.